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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli military geared up for defense
against what it called the unlikely possibility of an attack
by Iraq following U.S.-British airstrikes on Baghdad, while
Palestinian leaders condemned the assault on Iraq and called
for an emergency Arab summit to demand it be halted.

The Israeli army announced Thursday it would deploy
U.S.-supplied Patriot anti-missile systems, if necessary, and
urged the public to make sure they had working gas masks.

The army called the measures purely precautionary; Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had no intention of
joining the military action against Iraq.

Speaking several hours after the U.S.-led airstrikes on Iraq
began, Netanyahu said Israel does not want to get involved in
the confrontation, but reserves the right to defend itself if
attacked by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"We have no intention of becoming part of this conflict but
we are prepared for every possibility," Netanyahu told Israel
radio.

"I am not tempted to do anything. I will do whatever is
required to ensure the security of the state of Israel. We
will act with very great caution," Netanyahu said.

Iraq rained 39 Scud missiles on Israel in the 1991 Gulf War,
killing one person and wounding scores, but has not leveled
any threats against the Jewish state in the latest crisis.
Israel did not retaliate against Iraq in 1991.

Israeli military commanders believe Hussein will only attack Israel out of desperation

Israeli military commanders said Thursday that Hussein may
fire missiles with chemical or biological warheads at Israel,
if U.S. airstrikes bring him to the verge of collapse.
However, the generals said the chances of an Iraqi missile
attack on Israel are very low.

"So long as there is no tangible threat to (Hussein's)
survival ... he will not attack Israel, so as not to become
embroiled in another front," said Israeli Brig. Gen. Amos
Gilad, the head of research in Military Intelligence.

"But if he is on the brink of extinction, he certainly may
take suicidal steps involving the launching of a few missiles
against Israel," Gilad said.

Gilad said that in spite of Iraq's denials, it still
possesses a few missile launchers, several dozen missiles and
chemical-warfare capability.

Israel is much better prepared to deal with an Iraqi missile
attack than it was in 1991, a defense official said.

"Today we have a satellite terminal which enables us to
receive early warning in a much shorter time, and we are
linked directly to the American radar," said Avi Benayahu,
adviser to Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai.

The radar system of the Arrow anti-missile missile, which
Israel is developing, is operational, Benayahu told Israel
radio. The system, code-named Green Pine, is capable of
tracking a ballistic missile in flight, he said.

Netanyahu said U.S. President Bill Clinton talked to him
about the situation in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday and raised
the possibility of a U.S. attack on Iraq as he learned that
Iraq was not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors.

At the time, Netanyahu was standing with Clinton on the
tarmac of Ben-Gurion International Airport, waiting to see
him off at the end of Clinton's peace-bridging mission to
Israel and Palestinian areas.

"He told me that he was about to get a very difficult report
by (chief U.N. weapons inspector) Richard Butler on Iraq's
failure to fulfill its commitments, and that it apparently
would obligate him to act," Netanyahu said of his
conversation with Clinton.

Palestinian leaders condemned the U.S.-led assault, and
Clinton appeared to have lost much of the popular goodwill he
won on landmark visits to Palestinian-ruled Gaza and the West
Bank town of Bethlehem this week.

The already fragile Israeli-Palestinian peace process
appeared further weakened as Palestinians reacted bitterly
against the attack on Iraq.

In the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Hebron, Palestinian
police moved quickly to break up dozens of Palestinian teen-
agers who threw stones at Israeli troops. Only two days
earlier, Clinton had sung along with a Palestinian children's
choir in Manger Square in Bethlehem, the traditional
birthplace of Jesus.

The largest pro-Iraq rally was held in the West Bank town of
Nablus, where about 3,000 Palestinians took to the streets,
chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Clinton."

Protesters burned a dozen U.S. flags, including those that
had been distributed by the Palestinian Authority several
days earlier to cheer the arrival of Clinton in Gaza and
Bethlehem.

"Two days ago, Clinton was here and we though he carried a
message of peace," said Majeda Masri, a teen-age marcher.
"But now it is clear that he is a murderer."

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who sided with
Iraq during the Gulf War but warmly received Clinton during
his visit this week, avoided comment on the latest pounding
of Iraq.

The Palestinian Authority called for an emergency Arab summit
to demand an immediate halt to the strikes.

"We condemn this unjustifiable attack on Iraq and appeal for
Arab countries to convene an urgent summit ... to call
without delay for a halt to the attacks," said Ahmed abdel-
Rahman, general secretary of the Palestinian Cabinet.

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel, The Associated Press and
Reuters contributed to this report.